


Just one night

by IsharaYar



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Blame Jack for the Language, Consent, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Romance, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-07
Updated: 2016-01-02
Packaged: 2018-04-25 06:34:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4950316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IsharaYar/pseuds/IsharaYar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is the last night on the Citadel before they all jump in to the jaws of hell.<br/>For months he has been working his way in to her heart, yet, she has resisted. Feelings and relationships are too complicated and only lead to pain.<br/>What happens when she can no longer resist?</p><p>Tumblr writing prompt inspired: "I promised myself I wouldn't let you complete me."</p><p>( This actually leads on from the tumblr drabbles I posted the other day, you may wish to read those first if you haven't already but they aren't required. )</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I read through this and realised I wasn't as happy with it as I should be.  
> Then I was going to ditch the whole thing and start over again.  
> Then I changed my mind and decided to just do some edits. I am still not all that happy with it but anyways... here is the first part, lets see how the second turns out.  
> I've split it in to two parts because I am evil and like to drag things out and also because I have been so slow in actually writing this thing.

Jack ran her fingers through her hair as she paced the hotel room. She felt like an animal who was caged, clawing at glass and getting nowhere. Kaidan had come to her room two nights previous, after the crew of the Normandy had gathered for drinks and a little fun at Afterlife. They had danced and flirted a lot, all night, in fact she couldn't remember the last time she had just kicked back and had fun. Deep down she knew Kaidan was a big part of that. When he came to her he had kissed her, nothing else, just the kiss. Now she couldn't get it, or him, out of her head.

The first time they had met, she irritated the hell out of him, the alliance had sent them on a mission together. Good training for the biotic kids, or so they had told her. She questioned his every order, gave him hell because it had been so easy to provoke the man who was such a hard ass for following regs. By the end of the mission, they had developed a wary rapport. It probably helped that the mission had gone to hell, leaving her to save both his ass and that of her students.

After the mission, they had bumped into each other on the Citadel several times. They always shared a few drinks, conversation and more than a little flirting. It had never really gone any further than that but, she found herself _thinking_ about him more after each encounter. Then she found herself _worrying_ over his safety when she knew he was on a mission. She had always thought it was a waste of time, as much as she had begun to enjoy his company they were both far too different for anything serious. It was fun, the flirting was fun, but it was never going to go beyond friendship. Or so she kept telling herself because it was easier than admitting anything else.

Plus there was Shepard. Jack respected her far too much to move in on her territory and she _knew_ the woman still had feelings for him. Everyone knew it and had expected they would work it out in the long run but, that hadn't happened either. Jack still wasn't sure why. Kaidan had come to her, he hadn't gone to Shepard. Why? Also why now when any one of them could fucking die with a war raging on around them.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck._

It would have been easier if he hadn't kissed her. If he hadn't made her feel the things she had been holding back. She had already lost someone she cared about once, now she didn't want to lose him too.

Fuck him for making her feel like that. For giving her something else that the damned war could rip right out from under her. Worrying about the students had been enough, damn it she didn't need him too.

She knew it was the last night they would all be on the Citadel, the Normandy was leaving in the morning. She would be leaving sometime in the afternoon for earth, they needed her and the students to assist with the battles against the reapers. All she had to do was stay away from him. Just for one more night, after that they would be going in different directions. It should have been easy, just one more night.

They could all die trying to take earth back, everyone of them.

Worse than that _he_ could die when she survived.

Her eyes trailed over to a picture that was sitting on the bedside table. They had all gathered at the apartment and Shepard insisted on a group photo. In it Kaidan had been sitting between herself and Shepard but, his arm was resting behind her. She hadn't even known it until later when they were all given a copy, he hadn't actually been touching her. His arm was resting on the sofa itself and his body was leaning towards her. She remembered the moment vividly because he had leaned in to whisper something in her ear that made her laugh. It was one of the many stories getting around about Kasumi's cloaking antics.

It made them look like a couple sitting amongst friends. It looked good, they looked good together and in that shot, in that moment, they also both looked happy. Kaidan's entire body language was almost, possessive, like this woman is mine and god help anyone who tried to say differently.

As she traced a finger over his outline she focused in on his eyes. There was that look again, the one she had seen when he kissed her. The one she hadn't been able to put her finger on now fell into place. It was longing, not a lust fueled longing of someone who just wanted sex. It was the kind of longing expression someone had when they were looking at a person they loved but thought they would never have. That same look was also mirrored in her own eyes, under the surface of the smiles. A look that would now forever be captured in that photo.

Fuck, she couldn't-

-she couldn't stay away. She wanted him. She needed him. Even if it was just one night before they all leapt into the pits of hell, she needed something to hold on to. She needed him to know she would be waiting for him if they got through this.

She needed-

-she needed to know that he would be waiting for her too.

She slammed the panel on the door and stepped out into the corridor. It was late and she didn't know where Kaidan was staying, not exactly. What she did know was who would be able to tell her as she accessed her omni tool and opened a channel.

"Shepard here," came the Commander's voice over the line. She sounded far too alert to have been sleeping. Jack should have expected it, sometimes she wondered if Shepard ever slept.

"Shepard? It's Jack," she responded, dragging it out as long as possible because she was far more nervous than she would ever admit, to anyone.

"Hey Jack, what's up? It's a little late for a personal call, is everything okay?" Even with everything she had been through and all that was going on around her, Shepard still managed to sound concerned for others.

"I-," she took in a deep breath and pushed ahead. At least this would be one way for her to find out how Shepard felt about it. "I need to know where Alenko is staying."

"Kaidan?" Shepard asked, sounding a little surprised and puzzled. "He is staying at the apartment tonight. You didn't know that?"

A sinking feeling washed over her as she listened to Shepard's words. The apartment, Shepard's apartment, so he was staying with her for the night.

 _Fuck, now I feel like an idiot. I should have known. I should have. Who in their right mind would be interested in a psychotic biotic?_ She had no idea how to respond to Shepard. None. At least nothing that didn't involve a long string of swearing or potentially ruining a friendship that she had come to rely on.

Shepard must have realised something when Jack had gone quiet with the line still open, because she broke the silence shortly after. "Jack, I'm on the Normandy. I'm making sure everything is ready for departure in the morning. Kaidan has the apartment. Just make sure everything is in one piece when you are done," she said knowingly.

She was stunned into remaining silent. The entire situation was pathetic and it _shouldn't_ have made her feel as insanely happy as it did. What the hell was wrong with her? She also realised she was still holding Shepard up on the line. "Shepard? Thank you. I... I have to go."

A soft chuckle came through her omni tool. It was quickly followed by a serious voice, "There is just one more thing, if you hurt him. I will kick your ass."

"You could try," she said as a smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

~~~~~~~~

During the ride over to the apartments, she stayed on the line with Shepard. Mostly they discussed the plans for the students once they arrived on earth. There had been a time when she wouldn't have cared, she would have dived head first into the reapers with all biotics blazing. She would have ploughed straight through as many as she could and probably have gone down herself, in that same blaze of biotics and firepower. There's certainly no way she would have specifically asked for a support role, not for herself, she had the students to look out for now and they weren't ready for frontline work.

Jack would be there with them, defending them every step of the way, while they kept up barriers for the soldiers. Shit, there was a time before Shepard and the Normandy where she would have taken those kids right along with her and _not_ cared. Although she never said it, she was grateful for what Shepard had done for her. In a way she was going soft, well softer, and she liked it.

Over time the anger that raged inside her had dimmed to a dull roar, she still _hated_ Cerberus and would give anything to rip those bastards down. Just thinking about them had the ability to make her hands shake with rage as the anger boiled inside, but, she could also push those thoughts out of her mind when they surfaced. She would never tell them as much but she would gladly lay down her life for any one of the crew she had served with under Shepard's command, even Miranda. Shepard inspired that in all of them.

As she neared the apartment, Jack froze. She became _acutely_ aware of just how close she was to Kaidan's location. Her stomach clenched tightly. Shakes vibrated throughout almost violently only this time they weren't caused by anger but something else. She knew how much Kaidan had been through after losing Shepard and how much he deserved now. What if she couldn't give him that? What if she really was too damaged to ever truly open her heart to someone, to allow herself to be that vulnerable? He deserved at least that much and she wasn't sure she could give it.

"Hey Jack, are you still with me?" Shepard's concerned voice cut through her thoughts.

  
"Shep, I can't do this," she responded, not even aware of how shaky her voice sounded.  
  
"Yes you can." Shepard responded easily. "Now turn off this com line and knock on that door."  
  
Jack suddenly became aware of the subtle hum of biotics against her back and a warm breath beside her ear that made her tremble, "She is right you know." He reached an arm around her to flick off the omni tool after saying goodnight to Shepard and receiving a chuckle in response. His breath was warm on her neck and left her longing to feel his lips against her skin, "At least come in and talk to me."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what was going to only be 2 chapters is now actually three chapters. The good stuff will be in the last chapter ;)  
> I hope everyone is enjoying the New Year so far and I hope you enjoy this latest chapter of my little Jalenko ficlet.  
> I love these 2 so much!

_Jack._

If anyone had so much as mentioned to him six months ago that they would be at that point, he would have told them they were crazy for even suggesting it. However, they were at that point and suddenly he was completely and utterly lost. She was gorgeous, sexy, tough and had no real love for rules and regulations. Well, okay he _did_ have to admit, she was learning the last part, painfully slowly but, learning none the less. She was so unlike anyone he would have ever imagined himself with, unlike anyone he would ever imagine _liking_ him. Let alone anything more.

He had realised some time ago that she was getting to him. If he was really truthful with himself, she had gotten under his skin the first time he had met her. The sassy flirting thing she had done while trying to undermine his orders, then following them anyway. Although frustrating at the time had also been _amazingly sexy_. Even more so when it turned out she had been right and had to save his ass. There was also the way she had handled the biotic kids, they responded to her and it was clear, under that hard exterior, that she cared about them and they knew it. There had to be a story there, she was a mystery at the time and one he found himself drawn to, one he wanted to unravel.

Even now there was a lot he still didn't know about her past. Every once in awhile she would make a comment, a joke to shrug off the seriousness of past situations but he could see the pain behind the humour. That was when he really started to see her. Under the hard exterior, the jokes and the flirting was someone who was _hurting_. Someone who deserved so much more. It was also how he knew if there was ever to be anything between them, friendship or maybe one day more, he would need to tread carefully and make damned sure he was serious.

Now he _knew_ without a doubt that he loved her, that he was scared to death of anything happening to her on earth. He also knew that she needed to hear it, she had come to him, it had to be her choice and it was. Whatever happened or didn't happen between them, she was still going to hurt if he didn't make it and he needed to make sure she would be alright.

As he turned off Jack's comline to Shepard and requested she at least come in to speak with him, he breathed inwards near her neck. The scent of her that taunted his nostrils was softer than he had expected from Jack. It was a calm, gentle, floral scent and not at all what he thought she would smell like. He wondered if perhaps it was a statement from Jack in her own way, the only people who would be ever close enough to her to smell that scent would be people who already knew her, people who knew the tough act was just that, an act.

Kaidan could see the muscles in Jack's neck tense a moment before she spoke, "Well if you are going to invite me in, opening the door would be a good start."

When she turned and looked at him, he could see that her mask was firmly in place. He had caught her in a moment of vulnerability when she had been talking to Shepard but, apparently she wasn't going to open up so easily. He resisted the urge to let out a frustrated sigh, one step at a time, that was how Jack needed to be handled.

He reached over and placed his palm against the door panel to open it. Once they were inside, the moment the door slid shut, Jack took him by surprise. He found himself pressed up against it with her lips against his. His immediate reaction was to kiss her right back, a groan escaped him as she rolled her hips to brush their bodies together. Her kisses weren't soft or tender, they were hungry and lust fueled. Although not unpleasant, his body was certainly reacting to her and god knows he _wanted_ her but, not like this. He was fairly sure she didn't want it like this either, not really. She was reacting to how she _expected_ it to work out between them, not how she really wanted it to. It was almost as if she was daring him to prove her wrong.

One thing was certain, it was near impossible to pull back from her the way she had him pinned against the door. He needed to turn this around on her, so he did the only thing he could think of and that was to give into her, for the moment. He returned her kisses but he worked at keeping his own actions softer than hers, he moved his lips slower. As her tongue snaked into his mouth, he returned her faster explorations with slower movements of his own. Kaidan slid his arms around her waist and pulled her in close. With the outfit she was wearing and the many patches in which her skin was uncovered it wasn't hard for him to find a spot to gently trail his fingers over her bare back.

It was working. Her movements automatically seemed to slow down in order to match his own. Instead of her lips moving hard and fast against his, they slowed and the pressure softened. Instead of her tongue frantically dipping in and out of his mouth, it also slowed and _caressed_ the roof of his mouth before sliding sensually along his. She also wasn't holding him as hard against the door, in fact her body even _relaxed_ against his own.

She wasn't just kissing him, she was really _kissing him_. It was a soft, yet passionate kiss, the type of kiss that made his heart race and his body fill with the kind of warmth that only good emotions could produce.

No, he didn't want to just get into her pants and be done. He loved her and he knew it. Whatever happened between them needed to be more than just sex. He needed it to be more. The way she was responding to him made it almost impossible to think, but, he knew he needed to keep his head. Kaidan hooked both of his arms around her waist and in one fast motion he swapped their positions. He had Jack pinned against the door giving him more freedom of movement and control over the situation she had placed them in. He had no illusions over his own strength, he knew she was faster and more agile than he was. He also knew she was a stronger biotic, he couldn't really keep her pinned unless she _wanted_ him to.

He shifted his lips as he kissed his way gently along her jaw and continued down the side of her neck. At the same time he shifted his hands from her waist to her shoulders and trailed his fingers down her arms with featherlight touches. He could feel her body tremble against his as her back arched off the door to grind her hips into the bulge that was fast growing in his pants. He was met with a growl of frustration from her that he could only assume was brought on because, he wasn't moving things along as fast as she had wanted him to.

Kaidan peppered kisses back up along her neck until his lips captured hers again. He took hold of her hands and raised their arms above their heads. As he stretched them to full length against the door he entwined his fingers with hers, their palms pressed together. When he deepened the kiss he felt her hands gently squeeze his own. As much as she had gone at him with full force to begin with, she was really responding better than he had hoped to his attempts at slowing things down. As their tongues explored each other's mouths, he thought how easy it would be to run his hands back down to her body and start peeling away her clothes. He wondered how her breasts would feel in his hands. He wanted all of her so much that he ached to the point that it almost hurt. Pulling back from those kisses was one of the hardest things he had ever forced himself to do. Somehow he managed it. He broke contact with her lips and pressed his forehead against Jack's as he looked right into her eyes.

She looked back as he held her gaze, at first her expression was harder, even slightly irritated. There was certainly lust in her hooded eyes and she was probably a little annoyed that he had taken the lead and then stopped. After a few moments her eyes softened in a way that he had never seen on her before. She looked scared and maybe even a little vulnerable, for all of the confidence that normally radiated from her, he was seeing something else entirely. Her hands squeezed his tighter as she started to squirm uncomfortably under his gaze.

Kaidan released her hands and lowered his arms so he could place a finger under her chin, "Jack, I _care_ about you a lot. I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm thirsty, how about a couple of beers? Surely Shepard has something in that fridge we can raid," she responded as she squirmed her way out from between him and the door.

Kaidan bit back a sigh of frustration at her obvious avoidance of anything more serious as he turned and watched her saunter her way into the kitchen. "Jack..." he said with a tone that was warning of his building annoyance. He didn't _want_ to be annoyed at her but there were some things that needed to be addressed, he couldn't just have sex with her and then slink off into the night as if there was never anything between them.

Jack turned back around after rummaging in the fridge with two beers in her hands, her expression as their eyes met was almost impossible for him to read. "You can't promise that, neither of us can," she said as she held out one of the beers for him.

Kaidan responded as he clasped his hand around the beer, purposely wrapping his fingers around hers at the same time. "No, we can't. I was hoping that we might have something worth surviving for.. a chance.. something to come back to at the end of all this."

There it was, as he watched her closely, their eyes never breaking contact. He could almost see the walls crumbling, the dampening of her eyes as she fought to hold back unshed tears. Jack had never looked more vulnerable to him than she did in that moment and he wouldn't let her down, he couldn't.

He reached his other hand over to take the second beer, placing both of them down on the counter behind her. There was no resistance as Kaidan placed his hands on her hips and drew her into him. As their foreheads touched, he could hear the tremble in her voice when she spoke, "Well I do have a squad of kids I intended to see through this thing in one piece."

She was still resisting with her words, but Kaidan could see right through them. It was now or never. He raised one hand to trail his fingers softly over her lips, he knew as he spoke that his own voice was trembling, "I love you Jack."

One single tear slid it’s way down her cheek, to which Kaidan responded by extending his thumb and wiping it away. "Kaidan…" she started, her voice barely more than a whisper. Their lips so close that he could feel her breath against his own as she exhaled, "Damnit, I promised. I promised myself I would never let you complete me."

"And now?" He whispered back, prodding her gently to continue.

"I can't imagine what I would do without you," she replied softly. "I hate you for this you know," she said as a smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

"Close enough," Kaidan responded as he closed the gap between their lips. She responded in turn as she moved her lips against his, slow, soft and sensual with Jack setting the pace. Deepening to something more as their lips parted and tongues met.


End file.
